Larger Than Life Tutorial

In this tutorial we'll go over the basic aspects of your new collage template.

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These templates were limited to 30x40 and 30x30 @ 100 dpi to speed up the download time. If you would like to up-size the dpi of the the collage (which we recommend) please do so before running the action and inserting your images. This will yield a much better quality print. Simply go to Image-->Image Size--> in Photoshop and make sure that "Constrain Proportions" is checked. You will probably want to change the dpi to 300, but it may be different for each lab.

Also, these templates are based on ProDPI's 1 1/2 inch gallery wrap canvas, which uses a 2 inch wrapped area on every side. Make sure you check with your preferred vendor and use their specifications to properly size your template. Remember, these files are currently 30x40 printed (with a 2 inch wrap on every side, for a template size of 34x44). If you want to make a canvas of any other size, you should change the size before adding your images.

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INSERTING IMAGES USING THE AUTOMATIC ACTIONS (in PHOTOSHOP):

As you read in the product description before purchasing the templates, the actions have been tested to be compatible with Photoshop CS3 and later. However, even if you have an older version of Photoshop, we always recommend trying out the action to see if it will work for you before adding your images by hand.

1 )) Open the PSD file (such as STYLE_1.psd) into Photoshop.

2 )) Load the action “LARGER THAN LIFE - INSERT IMAGES.atn” into your Actions palette in Photoshop. (If you need help with loading actions we have a wonderful tutorial that explains everything at designaglow.com/how.

3 )) Press “Play” on the corresponding action within the LARGER THAN LIFE action in your Actions Palette. (For "STYLE_1.psd", choose the STYLE_1 action. (To insert only one image at a time, you can also choose a certain image layer, then press the "INSERT ONE IMAGE" action.)

3)) Your image will be placed above the IMAGE LAYER, but right now it will probably appear quite large.

4)) With the image you've just placed selected, choose "CREATE CLIPPING MASK" from the drop down menu at the top right of the layers palette. This will confine your image within the boundaries of the IMAGE LAYER.

5)) Use the FREE TRANSFORM tool (Keyboard shortcut Control+T) and drag in the corners of your image to position it correctly within the frame. (Hold SHIFT while you drag to constrain proportions, so your image won't get "smooshed".)

6)) Press Enter to apply the transformation.

INSERTING IMAGES BY HAND (USING THE "PASTE INTO" METHOD, IF YOU'RE UNABLE TO USE CLIPPING MASKS)

1)) Select the image layer you would like to populate in your LAYERS palette (It will be called "IMAGE LAYER 1", "IMAGE LAYER 2", etc.).

2)) COMMAND+click on the layer mask attached to that layer to select it. You should now see marching ants around that image layer on the template to show that it's selected.

3)) Open your image and choose SELECT->ALL from the top menu (or COMMAND+A). You wil now see marching ants around the whole image to show that it's selected.

4)) Choose EDIT->COPY (or COMMAND+C).

5)) Go back to your Larger Than Life Template, and choose EDIT->PASTE INTO (or COMMAND+SHIFT+V).

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WHAT TO DO WITH THE "WRAPPED" AREA: Once you've added your images to the template, you may want to change the color of the area that will wrap around the sides of the canvas. To do so, double click the color block on the THIS AREA WILL BE WRAPPED layer in the layers palette, choose a new color, and click OK.

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